Overtime Battle… Coming back not once, but twice in this game, the Lakers had their chances to pull off the W.

The Lakers shot a blistering 79% in the first quarter. Unfortunately, they trailed 39-34, giving up easy buckets and various three-point plays. In the next quarter, they sent the Bucks to the freethrow line again and again, including four straight freethrows when KCP got tossed for going after the officials about a no-call.

The Bucks would pull ahead by a seemingly commanding 20 points.

“That was as bad as I’ve seen us defensively,” Luke said. “They were shooting rhythm shots. Bledsoe might as well have been in a gym by himself shooting three pointers.”

The Laker second unit, keyed by Caruso, Zubac and Kuzma, reeled them in and tied the game up in the fourth. They were playing for each other on both ends and play by play, chipped away at the lead. Offensively, there drew defenders and found teammates. Defensively, they covered for each other and plugged the paint. No easy shots. They held the Bucks to 15 points in the fourth quarter.

The Lakers had their chances to win the game, but both teams went scoreless in the final minute of regulation, sending the game to overtime.

Eric Bledsoe would single handedly push the Bucks out to a 9-point lead in OT (he’d finish the night with 39 points). The Lakers weren’t done, however. They ran off an 8-0 run themselves, and it was anyone’s game again.

Julius Randle couldn’t finish a key drive with 20 seconds left. Down 1, we fouled. The Bucks missed a FT and the Lakers pushed it up. They ran a double-drag screen and tried to free up Kuzma off a Randle screen. Randle didn’t get a clean screen and Kuzma forced up and bricked a tough three with a chance to win it. The Lakers would fall 124-122.

Randle -- -- Just one or two less miscues in crunch times from him and we win the game. The highs were high and the lows were low in this game for him. He had one of the dunks of the year with a posterizing dunk over Tyler Zeller in the first half. In the second half, he hammered over him again. He also had a huge steal on Giannis that he pushed out with speed to Kuzma for a breakaway scores. Those moments had Staples buzzing. Some deflating moments, however, with a turnvoer stepping on the line on a drive with a minute left in regulation. And then another missed drive with 20 seconds left in overtime that was huge. He did make a couple clutch FTs with 49 seconds left. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 5-13 shooting (1-1 from three, 7-8 from the line) to go with 10 boards (4 offensive), 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 40 minutes. He was a -19. The Action: His post entry pass was picked off. He hopped into a closeout and then fell as Giannis blew past him. He drained a 29-footer to beat the shotclock. He faced up and banked a jumper, nice. He hit a cutting KCP for a layup next time down. He asked for the ball against a smaller man at the top of the key, blew past him on the catch and dunked over the challenging center, damn (Staples was buzzing off that). He spun around a defender and choked the easy layup. He attacked right, brought it back left and missed the runner. He spun baseline and brought it back to his left and drew FTs (got to try to finish with the right there), he made both. He drew FTs on a putback attempt, he made both. He forgot the ball on a drive, unforced error. He blocked Giannis under the hoop, but had to foul on the putback attempt. He faced up in the post and hit a cutting Ingram for a dunk. He muscled his way into the paint, missed, missed the putback but Kuzma cleaned it up. He drew FTs in transition, he made one. He missed a putback but kept it alive. Second Half: He was called for a charge in the post. He attacked down the middle next time down and hammered over Zeller again. Great job pouncing on Giannis as Caruso got him to turn on a drive and Randle just yanked the ball away from him, pushed up the break and fed Kuzma for the dunk. He got an offensive board, attacked and threw it over the board expecting a call that didn’t come. He took a bullet feed from Ingram and scored a layup to tie it up with 1:30 left. He attacked and lost the ball on the gather, it went off Giannis’s leg with 1:09, so we got it back. He the stepped out of bounds on the drive for a turnover on the inbounds, uggh. Overtime: He attacked and was blocked. He was fouled on the perimeter with 49 seconds left (Middleton fouling out) for FTs, he made both to cut it to 1. He attacked with 20 seconds left, got contact and missed on the layup attempt.

Ingram -- -- There will be plenty of focus on Kuzma’s big miss in OT, but that’s a tough shot. What kills you is the three missed freethrows by Ingram late in that fourth. Three straight, including two with 2 minutes left. Painful. He had 6 assists, but with 5 turnovers. The Bucks scored 31 points off our 19 turnovers. Just some very bad reads as well as getting into the air trying to pass from Ingram. So even though he scored his points efficiently, he had too many miscues in this one. In OT, they pulled him to go to the locker room with a neck contusion, concussion protocol later. Apparently he passed that. He got hit in the neck going after a perimeter pass and getting fouled. Long starting lineup tonight with Ingram at the point, Kuzma at SF. BI just doesn’t look quite back in the flow of things to pull it off, though. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-7 shooting (2-2 from three, 0-3 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 6 assists, 5 turnovers and 3 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He attacked from the wing and scored the layup after getting some contact. Poor angle entry pass and it was stolen, points the other way. Nice off-ball cut and Julius hit him for the dunk. He attacked and was rejected by the help D. He hit Lopez off the screen-roll for a dunk. He attacked a crowd and threw it to the Bucks. Second Half: He got caught behind a screen and gave up an open three to start the half. He couldn’t finish a layup around a man. He hit three, good form on that. Ill-advised wing jumper, trying to lean in and get contact that wasn’t there, he made it, though. He attacked and threw it right to the Bucks again. He overpassed instead of trying to finish at the rim and threw it out of bounds. He was hit on an And-1 three on a kickout, he missed the FT, way short. He iso’d, up-faked and drew FTs, he missed both again, argh, down 2 with 2 minutes left. He fired a bullet from about 35 feet out to Randle for a layup. Overtime: Good D on Bledsoe to help force a shotclock violation.

Lopez -- -- Kind of a quiet 18-point first half. He had a couple of dunks, some And-1s and a three among his 8-11 shooting in the first half. Very productive offensively. Just 2 points the rest of the game. Defensively, very little presence. Zubac and Randle took the bulk of the center minutes to close the game. Lopez came back in for a stretch of OT when Ingram had to sit. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 9-14 shooting (1-3 form three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 block and 2 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He couldn’t seal his man in the paint and the post entry was stolen. He attacked on the screen-roll for an And-1 layup, he missed the FT. He sank a wing three on a kickout. He hit a jumphook from about 8 feet out. He scored an And-1 on his drive right, he made the FT. Soft touch on a spin move to hit a jumphook. He dunked down the middle of the lane. He missed a three, KCP got it back and lobbed to him for the dunk. He missed a turnaround in the post. He dunked off the screen-roll with Ingram. He missed a wing three. Second Half: He swatted a guard on a drive after having to switch on him. He airballed a pull-up FT jumper. He hit a runner in the paint when Kuzma found him. He missed a runner.

Kuzma -- -- The game came down to the final seconds. We got a defensive boards, pushed it up, Caruso worked off a double drag screen, which then turned into Randle trying to set a screen on Giannis to free up Kuzma. Randle didn’t get a good screen. Giannis chased Kuzma and challenge well and Kuzma badly bricked the three that could have given the Lakers a lead/game winner. He had time to let Giannis fly by, if he wanted or just keep curling into the paint with a man behind you. This is a great experience to get guys into these situations and learn from them. Next time, maybe he has a little more poise and will see the play unfold a little better. I think Kuzma got it in his mind he was going to need to shoot a three because we weren’t expecting a missed freethrow. He said he didn’t learn anything from that, lol. Luke will be in his ear when they go over the game tape. In any event, Kuzma was vital to that Laker comeback. He had the Bucks on their heels in the fourth and he wasn’t just trying to score. He set up Zubac a couple of times for key scores. He’s so dangerous when he’s that full package. There will be focus on that big miss, but look at the numbers in this one -- 27-12-6 from your rookie on 55% shooting. The 6 assists was a career high along with the big minutes. I like DFish talking about the little bit of Kobe Bryant he saw on a turnaround jumper from Kuz at the elbow. Just so many tools. Defensively, the Lakers buckled down in that fourth and Kuzma was part of that 15-point defensive effort. They did a better job staying in front of their men as a unit to get stops. The Stats: He scored 27 points on 11-20 shooting (2-9 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 12 boards (3 offensive), 6 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls in 46 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He iso’d and hit a three for the Lakers first score. His pass was picked off for a layup the other way. He missed a quick-fire three (had time to set up more). He cut off Ennis’s probe, took the pass and scored a layup. He missed a hook on a drive. He scored a putback. He grabbed an offensive board, posted up and hit the baseline turnaround. He missed a two-for-one three. Second Half: He hit a floater off a handoff for a score out of a timeout (as Stu said, you can’t defend that). He drew a help defender and hit Lopez for the runner. He got picked on the perimeter, FTs the other way. He iso’d with the clock low and hit the turnaround from the elbow. He scored a layup on the lob from Caruso as Kuzma backdoored his man (nice fake one way, before going the other). He missed a three and wanted the foul as he got knocked down. He missed a corner three. He attacked and hit Zubac for a score. He attacked and threw it away trying to find him. He took it right at Giannis in transition, bodying into him and he scored the And-1 layup over him, he made the FT. He sank a wing three next time down to cut it to 3. He missed a pull-up wing three. He attacked with speed and zipped it to Zubac for a layup to tie the game up and force a timeout. Great job changing ends off the Randle steal and Julius fed him for the dunk. He kicked to Ingram for the three. He missed a wing three in the final minute. Overtime: He was fouled on a baseline pull-up, he made both FTs. He missed a drive, but got it back. Quick attack in transition and he scored a layup over Giannis. Kuzma not close on a tough three with a few seconds left as Giannis challenged him (do over again, let him fly by and then shoot).

Caldwell-Pope -- – An angry KCP got tossed in the second quarter for yelling at the officials after he was battling on the offensive glass and wanted the foul. He had to be restrained by teammates from going after Ed Malloy during a timeout. That was the end of his night, which is unfortunate as we were already down Lonzo and IT from our backcourt. We at least gained back Hart, who gladly took over to start the second half. KCP missed all his threes, but was able to get to the rim for some scores. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-8 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 foul in 16 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He cut and Randle hit him for a layup. He attacked off the three line next time down for a layup. He hit Hart on the break for a layup. He missed a corner three on a great kickout from Randle. He took a handoff at the top of the key and dunked. He missed a three in transition. He kept an offensive board alive and it led to a Laker dunk. Not close on a scoop in the paint. He was blocked on a drive. He grabbed an offensive board between defenders, pulled it out and lobbed a tricky off-the-dribble pass to Lopez for the dunk. He missed a three off the elevator screens. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Hart -- -- Good to see Hart back in the lineup. We needed him, too, as Ball was out and then KCP got tossed. He started the second half and we ran him 35 minutes. He said he was exhausted afterward. He didn’t quite have his touch on the three shot tonight and there were also a couple of missed layups that he normally makes. Just shaking the rust off. He’d finish with the 13-13 double-double despite all that. Got to love it. Our two late first-round rookies tonight went for a combined 40 points on 50%+ shooting and 25 boards. Defensively, he had one of the plays of the game getting a key stop in OT on a help D rotation, going vertical to challenge, then saving it inbounds. Huge play. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-10 shooting (1-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 13 boards, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He scored a layup on the break. He attacked to his left off the three line and finished the lefty layup. Not close on a sideline three off a swing pass. He missed a wing three. Nice challenge on Middleton to force a miss on iso. Second Half: He sank a wing three in early offense. He gathered a bad pass, then choked the layup. Poor idea trying to feed the ball to Randle in traffic as he cut past him in early offense, turnover. He attacked, spun and missed the easy And-1 layup, he made both FTs. He missed a three, way short. Overtime: He had the ball slapped away from him on a handoff for a turnover. He attacked off the three line and scored a layup. Great help D rotation, going vertical and challenging a layup, then saving it back inbounds. He hit jumper at the buzzer.

Frye -- -- In for some minutes to spread the floor alongside post players. That was the theory. We then ran him some with Randle and then Zubac. Unfortunately, he struggled with the shot. Still, somehow that Zubac/Frye duo held the line defensively and helped turn the game around. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-3 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists and 1 foul in 15 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He missed a wing three. Second Half: He missed a wing three. He missed a wing jumper.

Caruso -- -- AC sparked the team to life tonight. His first half stats were 3 fouls and a turnover. Not a pretty stretch of ball at all. In the second half, he turned that around. He was penetrating, finding teammates and increasingly getting aggressive as the confidence grew. I think it helped that he was playing with Zubac as he knew his game well and gave him some comfort zone. But it was really the growing confidence that he could get into the paint and pressure the defense that opened things up. It was a long stretch of ball for him and he may have gotten tired in OT, but during our run his D was strong. He broke up a lob and also stole a pass that led to the great no-look drop pass to Zubac in transition (one of the passes of the year) for a dunk. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-5 shooting (1-1 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: Foul-prone minutes to start. Second Half: Nice read on Kuzma backdooring his man for a lob. He curled into the paint and scored a layup. Nice change of directions on a drive off the three line and he fed Zubac for the dunk. To start the fourth, he broke down the D and fed Zubac for the dunk. Great help D read one end to swipe the pass, he pushed it up, then made a no-look, behind-his-back drop pass to Zubac trailing for a slam (one of the best feeds this season). After a timeout, he then drained a three to cut the lead to 5. Nearly a diving steal at midcourt. He attacked with speed, missed the layup, but Zubac scored the putback. Sweet threaded pass to Zubac running the floor for FTs. Crafty change of directions and speed and he drew FTs trying to finish with his left, he made one. He couldn’t finish a drive. He was blocked under the hoop. Great switch to erase a lob and get a stop in the final minute. Overtime: He attacked and lost the ball. Bledsoe blew past him for a layup.

Zubac -- -- Teammates were finding him tonight. Loved it. “I was just running the floor, setting the screens, try to be a dunker and get the offensive rebounds and that’s how I got myself going,” he said. He split some time at backup C with Frye. Zubac was the first off the bench, then we brought back Frye to run with Randle and spread the floor in the first half. Zu was teamed with Kuzma so that we always had four shooters out there with a post player. We then switched it up with both Frye and Zubac out there. That unit helped turn things around. Some good challenges by Zubac on the defensive end during that stretch. A lot of chemistry with him and Caruso offensively. They teamed up a few times, but the most spectacular was a no-looker from Caruso to Zu running the break for the slam. Kuzma also found him a couple times. Huge ovation for Zubac tonight when he sat in the fourth. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-9 shooting (4-5 from the line) to go with 5 boards (3 offensive) and no fouls in 12 minutes. He was a +15. The Action: He missed a layup but kept it alive. Second Half: He missed a jumphook. We tried to get it back to him and he was held for FTs, he made both. He dunked off the drive and dish from Caruso. He dunked off the drive and dish from Caruso. He slammed off the sweet no-look drop pass from Caruso in transition. Another layup for Zubac off the drive and dish from Kuzma. He cleaned up Caruso’s dribble penetration with an And-1 putback, he missed the FT. Nice job changing ends and Caruso hit him for FTs on the dunk attempt, he made both. Kuzma attacked and fed him next time down for a layup to tie it up. Good help on Giannis to force a miss.

Ennis -- -- He was out there for that second-unit run. I think where he succeeded in that stretch was by just backing off and letting Caruso run the show. When he tried to attack on a possession and got rejected, he chased down the ball and fed Caruso for a three. So even on the one sequence where he didn’t defer, he managed to somehow pull a positive out of that giving it up again. Lesson learned. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-5 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 board, 4 assists, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 15 minutes. He was a +12. The Action: He probed and threw it away for a layup the other way. He came off the screen and hit the floater in the lane. He probed baseline and found a cutting Kuzma for a layup. He attacked around a screen and scored a layup when no help showed up. He missed a sideline three. His perimeter pass was stolen and we fouled to give up FTs. He missed a drive, but KCP kept it alive and Ennis hit a cutting Lopez for a dunk. Second Half: He was swatted badly on a drive, but got it back and hit Caruso for the three.

Walton -- -- Luke dripping with sarcasm about the refs after this one. “If a player didn’t mean to hit the guy in the face, it’s not a foul. So that was good to learn,” he said of the sequence where KCP was ejected. “If the referee feels if the offensive player is trying to dunk the ball, then the defensive player is allowed to hit the rim and it’s not goaltending. So that was good to know, as well.”… Quick timeout down 7-3 after giving up a layup in transition… Lakers up 21-17 when the timeout came midway through the quarter. High scoring start… The Lakers trailed by 4 and a timeout came 90 seconds later… He brought in Caruso for Ingram out of that… Hart in for Randle, sliding Kuzma to PF… Down 1 when Zubac entered for Lopez… Ennis in for KCP and he threw it away for a score the other way… The Lakers shot 79% in the quarter, but trailed 39-34 after the first…Frye, Randle, Hart, Caruso, Ennis lineup… KCP in for Caruso down 6… Lakers in the penalty with 8 minutes left… Lopez and Kuzma in… All starters in, Lakers down 8… Down 14 after KCP got ejected and we gave up four FTs… The Lakers trailed 68-57 at the half… Luke burned a quick timeout to start the second half as we gave up a wide open three, then an easy score in transition to start the half… Ingram out down 14 after a series of turnovers. Caruso in… Frye in for Lopez down 16… Zubac, Frye, Hart, Caruso, Ennis lineup down 20… Good job by that unit to trim the lead a little… The Lakers trailed 97-83 heading into the fourth… Zubac, Frye, Kuzma, Caruso, Ennis lineup… They cut it to 8 after 2 minutes (some nice play by Caruso for scores for Zubac). That forced a timeout… We got a stop and a Caruso three on the break out of that to cut it to 5… They trimmed it to 2 when Hart returned for Ennis… They tied it up on some more Zubac scoring and forced a timeout… Down 2, he brought back Ingram for Frye… Randle in for Zubac with 5:22 left (Zubac had 12 points in the quarter)… They took a 1-point lead off a Randle steal and breakaway… Down 1 with 3:44 left when the timeout came… Lakers nearly turned it over with 1:09 left, but the refs reviewed and gave it back to us. Score tied, a chance for Luke to set up a play. Turnover, however… No scores in the final minute and we went to OT… Overtime: He started Randle, Kuzma, Ingram, Hart, Caruso… They gave up a couple of layups and Luke called a timeout down 4… Awful possession out of the timeout. Ingram out for Lopez out of that… Down 9, they cut it down to 3 and forced a timeout with 1:09 left… They cut it to 1 with 49 seconds left with the 8-0 run… We had a chance to take a lead but Randle missed a drive… Chance again to tie or win on the double drag sequence in transition for Kuzma, but he couldn’t connect…

Luke dripping with sarcasm about the refs after this one. “If a player didn’t mean to hit the guy in the face, it’s not a foul. So that was good to learn,” he said of the sequence where KCP was ejected. “If the referee feels if the offensive player is trying to dunk the ball, then the defensive player is allowed to hit the rim and it’s not goaltending. So that was good to know, as well.”…

Lonzo effect: in 1st meeting, Bledsoe shot 4/12 (0-6 from downtown), scoring 11 points. Lonzo had a triple dub. 2nd meeting: no Lonzo. Results? Bledsoe shot 15/24 for 39 points (11 in OT). He pretty much got whatever he wanted. This is just one aspect of Lonzo's absence and how it negatively affects our team. We win if he played.

This young Laker team may be just one all star, not 2, away
from competing. I don't know if we want to keep blowing up
the team to then start the cohesive process all over each year.
Obviously, add Lonzo in that mix.